I started the Atkins diet January 4th this year, and so far I have lost 25-28 lbs. The last 3 sort of keep coming and going. My goal is to get as close to 145 as I can, I have a long way to go.

I have noticed some things happening and thought I would mention them, and see if any of you notice this, as well.

Firstly, I noticed that every night, I tend to run a low grade fever that seems to be in tune with my ketosis. The temp can range from about 99.3 to 100.2 or so. I do not feel ill, just hot, flushed and my energy shoots through the roof, though I tire easily if I try to exercise. If I sleep at night instead of working, I wake hot and sweaty. The doctor assures me nothing is wrong, though I did have a thyroid test 10 years ago that showed me very close to the low end of normal. The doctor assured me then no action was needed.

I work at night 3 days a week, and the other days I try to sleep at night, but this burst of energy I get is making it a bit difficult. I have checked my blood sugar and it is well within normal limits.

Also, I notice I fluctuate in and out of ketosis many times during the day. I can taste and sort of smell it on my breath, and it is strongest when the fever is highest. At first, I was thinking it was menopause and hot flashes, but soon correlated the fever with the ketosis, verified by Ketostix. I do not see a lot of mention of anything like this.

The gas, bloating, and loose BM's, all gone.

Atrial fib and palpitations.. gone.

Oily hair and facial skin, now normal.

I used to wake and live most of the day with headaches, migraines so severe I would.. well, you know.. also gone.

I used to never feel like I quite woke up, even after 10 hours being awake, I never *felt* awake. That is also gone.

Fibromyalgia, gone.

Ringing in my ears, gone.

Asthma, almost completely resolved. (I would often wake at night after inhaling regurgitated stomach acid.)

Constant pain in the upper center abdomen above my pancreas, gone.

Chronic back pain due to pancreatic problem, gone.

Chronic pancreatitis, severe duodenitis, peptic and duodenal ulcers, and GERD all a result of years of suffering from undiagnosed unrelenting inflamatory gallbladder disease (never had stones or cholesterol problem) with resultant biliary diskenesia, gone.

The first four days were almost a blur to me, my head was in a fog, I felt drunk, even stumbled when I walked, and had slurred speech. On the 5th day, it lifted, and I feel like I did when I was 25!

I think I am pre-diabetic, possibly with Syndrome-X/insulin resistance, and I cannot go above about 15 carbs per day, or I go out of ketosis and feel *horrible*. It is almost like carbs of any kind cause me severe distress both gastrically and mentally. (due to the "fog" I mentioned).

It took me years to get diagnosed with gallbladder disease because it did not fit the "typical" pattern of gallstones, and I finally went to a surgeon who ran a simple test and found my gallbladder to be horribly inflamed and diseased. He stated it was an autoimmune reaction, my body was attacking itself, but no one ever gave me a *cause*.

For several years after my gallbladder removal, I tried to avoid the fats as per the prescribed diet for this disorder, and continued suffering multiple, frequent bouts of chronic pancreatitis, as often as twice a week at times. This is a horribly agonizingly painful disease.

It seemed proteins were the real culprit. If I ate steak and a salad, I could expect to be in the emergency room. Peanut butter. Eggs. Chicken, cooked in any form. I was running out of foods I could tolerate. I ate toast, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese.. I lived off of carbs.

I gained an immense amount of weight from eating "low fat" (from 185-280+ lbs in a little over a year), only ate once a day or sometimes twice because of the gastric distress, but found my carb consumption was enormous!

I was afraid I would get violently ill with each meal, so I would gorge as if it were my last meal, and pray I would make it to the next one without an attack. I couldn't take typical antacid meds like Pepcid or Zantac because I became "allergic" to them, suffering kidney shutdown.

I suffered constant "near syncope" (almost fainting), weakness and shaking when I would stand, and orthostatic hypotension (low blood pressure upon standing), which I now believe was hypoglycemia.

Starting Atkins was a huge leap of faith for me due to this past history, but I have become a believer now due to the instant relief of the pain that has enveloped my life for so many years now. I still have infrequent near syncope, and my blood pressure has risen to normal levels.

The first day on the diet, bacon and eggs. Steak. Chicken. I told my husband we may well be visiting the emergency room *again*, but it was almost like a last ditch effort for me. I ate the protein, the fats, and guess what? I even ate 3 meals and no attack!

I was conidering gastric bypass, but feared I would not be approved due to my history of gastric problems. I was really feeling like I was dying, slowly and *very* painfully.

Reclaiming my life has been a difficult and frightening thing to me, but I can atest to the fact I feel better than I have in years upon years, and I feel I owe it to Dr. Atkins.

I do not miss carbs, I do not miss it one bit. I see bread now, I see pain. Carbs=poison to my body. I have some fears over what the general populace calls "healthy" dieting, but it was truly killing me. I know I need vegies, but my body just doesn't want to adapt to even the mildest carb intake right now.

The induction part of the diet is effortless to me, and feels simply *right*, the way a lifestyle change should.

I am confused and dismayed at how carbs can cause so many problems. Am I alone? Does anyone else relate to any of this? Any comments or suggestions are most welcome!

~Fantasia